"Kamal Majirif, I am here to check out where the attack on the power plant came from." The disguised Gundam Meister introduced himself, trying to play it off as if he were into mobile suits, a fan of sorts. Though the gun he had made it look very suspicious, thankfully, he met these two rather than someone else.
"A fan of mobile suits, huh?" Graham quickly found a kindred spirit in this kid. Once again, his gut feeling was right on the spot.
Though there was something off about this, he couldn't put his finger on what specifically.
"Yeah…" The pilot of Gundam tried to play along, but he was quite bad at it.
"Tell me, Kamal. What do you think about Celestial Being?" Marcus asked him, causing disguised Setsuna to gnash his teeth.
'Aren't you supposed to be on our side!?'
Part of Setsuna wanted to shoot Marcus right now!
"...Umm… I guess… they are not good guys?" 'Kamal' tried to pretend and play along with the common feeling everyone has about Celestial Being.
"They are trying to use fear and beat down everyone until they comply; that is something bad guys do. As we are now, we are here because of what happened in Moralia.
The AEU stopped supporting mercenaries with jobs, so the soldiers for hire just went to look for work somewhere else."
Marcus looked around while saying that.
"Yeah, besides, Celestial Being is just a rich man's toy who is doing dirty work for them."
Graham joined his Commander in badmouthing Celestial Being, causing Setsuna to tremble inwardly with anger.
As if they understand the bigger picture! They are doing this to eradicate war!
"Then… the message they said at the beginning of their appearance?"
"Ignorance." The disguised Emperor sharply rebuked.
"..."
"What do you mean, Commander?" Graham looked at his boss.
"Something like eradicating war is impossible. Simply because it's part of the life and death cycle humans go through."
"...!"
Setsuna looked at Marcus; his eyes were digging into him. Does he have the answer to his question!?
As an ex-guerrilla fighter and a child soldier, he always wanted to answer the question of war. All that death and suffering, what is it for?
"...Cycle?"
"If you really are that curious, then read about Ancient Taoism—the balance of life and death. You need war so that peace can have a meaning.
If constant peace dominates the world, then people will become fat and lazy, with no motivation, and evolution will take its course. If you don't believe me, read history; it has all the answers you are looking for.
The best example is the Dodo birds of Mauritius, a pigeon species that evolved to be fat and couldn't fly because they had no predators.
And we are no different to any animal because we still bleed just like any animal when someone bites a piece of us."
Marcus explained to the Gundam Meister that, though the blonde beside him nodded several times, he was following what the Commander was saying, and it made sense. He recalled something about this wingless bird on an island as well.
"... so wars happen because they have to?" Setsuna frowned.
"Wars happen because we are different. Everyone has their ego, desires, and dreams. Some people are simply bad, and they abuse the system. But that's always happened, since the beginning of mankind.
What Celestial Being is doing is increasing the stage of conflict.
They are trying to unite the world, and at the end of that, what do you think will happen next?
The world is united against Celestial Being; they are the enemy, and they will wage war against this group that possesses the Gundam.
Do you think four machines can beat 3 superpowers and hundreds of their mobile suits, humans still pilot those machines, and they will simply get tired out?
They might beat these odds, AND THEN what? Did they end all the wars? But do you think a wounded animal would just accept this? If you think they will, then you don't understand humanity.
There will always be someone who wants to wage war, pillage and do all that.
You can't stop it… unless…" Marcus made them hang on every single word.
"...Unless?" Setsuna nearly jumped off the cliff and got closer to listen to what he had to say.
"Someone is leading. Humanity requires someone to make tough choices, a leader. I doubt Celestial Being's plan has that, since they used prerecorded footage from over a hundred years ago as their leader.
Without a leader, united humanity can make countless choices it never even considered.
That is why their plan will fail, Kamal. That is why what Celestial Being is doing is nothing more than elevating a conflict to the next stage; it will be the first war to be waged in outer space.
And they are the ones who caused it." Marcus shrugged, then turned around and was ready to leave.
"C'mon, Graham, we didn't find anything, we should return to the base."
"Ah? Sure!" The blonde snapped out as he looked at his Commander and then at 'Kamal'.
"Hey, kid, don't wander around here like that; those mercenaries could still be around!" After saying his piece, the blonde rushed after his boss.
"Commander, what was all that about?" The blonde asked as they got into their rented car.
"Well, that 'Kamal', he was with Celestial Being. I questioned his loyalty to his organisation and its flawed ideology.
They desire change, but they lack a figurehead. A living figurehead. Only the ideals of an old man who died over a hundred years ago." Marcus explained, rolling his eyes.
"T-That kid!" Graham's eyes widened! Now it made sense! The feeling he got! That kid…
"He could be a pilot of a Gundam!" The blonde pilot of Over Flag declared with a grin.
"I am certain! That gaze he had! It's not a simple one. It's full of conviction!"
Marcus looked surprised for a second. He might made Graham too strong, the intuition he developed is something else.
"You might be right. The question is which one from those four he is piloting."
"...I have an idea, I need to test it out first." The Over Flag pilot smirked, having already encountered a certain blue-and-white machine that gave him the same vibes as this kid.
"Then we might have a chance." Marcus smiled as he considered how to move this situation forward.
His mercenary is here to stall and let his Empire embed itself; until then, he needs to keep the chaos running.
"I hope so…"
~~~
'What is your goal? What does it mean?' Setsuna was shaken when he heard that. He never imagined speaking with someone who had answers like that.
This guy… this Marcus Anaheim.
'I need to speak to you again. What do you need Celestial Being for?'
It was clear to him that Marcus doesn't believe in Celestial Being's ideals, yet he is funding them, allowing them to use the Orbital Elevator.
There has to be a goal of some sort.
'...a Leader… '
His eyes widened! He realised something!
'He is using Celestial Being to unite the world and become its leader!'
Setsuna scrambled into Exia as quickly as possible.
If this is true, then Marcus could have been the one who, in fact, took Veda away!
Once he was inside his Gundam, he scrambled to contact Lockon, who was in the country as well.
"Lockon! Do you copy?" Setsuna spoke in a worried tone, leaving the Sniper Gundam pilot confused.
"What is it? Why are you so nervous, Setsuna?" The Dynames pilot, who was lazing around, looked confused.
"I just had an encounter with Marcus Anaheim!"
"Oh? That's interesting. What did you speak with him about?"
"...This… well… we spoke about Celestial Being ideology and the whole conversation ended up as he doesn't believe in Aeolia Schenberg's plan… in fact, he spoke that humanity needed a leader… I believe he is using this plan to take over the world."
"..."
"That could be a possibility; we can't act without some sort of certainty." Lockon looked worried when he heard that. The plan mentioned that such a possibility could happen. Dictators are not uncommon. They excited throughout history.
But a dictator who rules all of Earth? That could be… very bad.
"We can discuss this with Miss Sumeragi once this mission is done." Lockon seriously nodded at Setsuna.
"Roger, I will continue to look for clues."
"Yes… and will just laze here and enjoy the air-con." The Sniper leaned into his seat and placed his hands behind his head.
"..."
The Exia pilot ended the call as he left his Gundam and returned to his scouting.
'I hoped that Wang Liu Mei got something for us by this point.'
Setsuna frowned. He felt as if they were wading through mud in this operation.
~~~
"Boss, that old man is not eating. If this continues, he will die." One of the Mercenaries said to Ali al-Saachez, the red-haired man was lazing around, waiting for a signal.
"Hmm? Doesn't matter. Our job is to keep him, that's all about it."
"...Seriously? And we get millions for this? Our sponsor surely is rich." The guy imagined swimming in cash after this is over.
"We do, after all, our sponsor wants all wars to cease to exist. But before that, many more must happen." The red-haired man laughed at how absurd it sounded. But hell, if he gets to fight, what does it matter what the rich lunatics want to do?
"Sounds weird. Still, whatever." The mercenary shrugged as he returned to his guard duty. He is getting paid a lot to guard an old man.
"Indeed…"
Ali al-Saachez nodded as he checked his special phone. His eyes widened for a second as a bloodthirsty grin appeared on his face.
'It's time.'
"Boys! They learned about our location and prepared to fight!" The red-haired mercenary barked his orders, and his men scrambled to their positions.
"Understood!" They were outfitted in the best armours and guns available on the market.
And sure enough, someone tried to sneak into their base, but gunfire greeted this invader.
'Yeah, not that easy when we know that you are coming!' Ali grinned like a predator. This was exactly what he wanted! A real fight!
The intruder was a martial artist; it was Hong Long, Wang Liu Mei's older brother; he was here with someone extra.
As all of a sudden, one of the mercenaries dropped to the ground, headfirst, someone sniped this guy!
"Sniper! Watch out!" The mercenaries took cover while the martial artist had the better time now.
"I don't think so, Celestial, what'cha you call it! You won't get my walking bag of money that easily!" Ali pressed a button on a remote and sections of the hideout exploded, causing the Martial Artist to cover as well.
"Not that easy, isn't it? You can't use your fancy Gundams here!" Ali al-Saachez cackled as he enjoyed the situation.
He wanted to try out his new Nemesis Gundam, but he needed to play here first, and now he is enjoying it. His new boss knows what he likes! This is much better than Moralia!
*Bang*Bang*Bang*
Gunshots followed as a third individual joined. Several of his boys have fallen on the ground with fatal shots.
"What the.. "
The red-haired mercenary looked to the side. He saw a blue-pilot-suit-wearing man wielding a pistol.
"...You… you are from Moralia." The mercenary had a sense of déjà vu. At that moment, he put two things together.
"Hahahaha, I had this feeling that it's you… Krugis Brat! To think that you are the one who pilots a Gundam! The world is small!"
"Ali al-Saachez, where is your god now? You will die here today. There is no escape; there is a Gundam outside ready to snipe you." Setsuna pointed his gun at the mercenary.
"Just how clueless are you, Krugis brat?" Ali al-Saachez shook his head as he had a crazy grin on his face.
"The old man is rigged with explosives; anything happens to me, he will go… boom and Azadistan will plunge into a proper civil war.
You should be grateful to me, your Celestial what'cha call it, will have a reason to exist."
Instead of saying anything, Setsuna opened fire on Ali al-Saachez, and his mercenaries opened back.
Soon enough, a gunfight between two factions started.
~~~
500 powers stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
And so on, You know what to do.
~~~
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